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Superman has the Fortress of Solitude. Batman has the Batcave. The Justice League has the Watchtower. Sherlock Holmes had 221b Baker Street. Bilbo had Bag End. Michael Card has Mole End.

It’s my pleasure to announce to you, ladies and germs, the Rabbit Room finally has official headquarters. Quarters for our head. A hutch. A lair. (Can good guys have lairs?) Monday morning I stood in the new office with Pete Peterson, Thomas McKenzie, Jason Gray, Russ Ramsey and our friend Josh Petersen (who was taking the picture) and gave thanks to God for the place.

What happens in a base of operations, you ask? Other than plotting to take over the world, it’s where we package and ship all the books, CDs, mugs, and Father Thomas bobblehead dolls. For years now, the base of operations has been in my manager’s basement. It’s been a good basement, as basements go, but even the best basement setup can’t compete with an actual above-ground office. Whoever filled orders had to step over boxes and hunch, not to mention the lack of sunlight makes one cranky (and pasty).

If we needed to do any webwork or planning or brainstorming or writing it tended to be in whatever coffee shop we could find. As many of you know, we tried for several months a while back to open a bookstore/coffeehouse, but realized that it’s impossible right now. In the meantime we’ve been looking for a happy medium, a place between the basement and a bricks-and-mortar Rabbit Room store.

Enter Ben Shive (a.k.a., one of my best compadres). Ben needed a bigger studio for all his production work. The Rabbit Room needed a lair. Yesterday I signed the lease on an office space that will house both. The Beehive (where Ben does his mad science) and the Rabbit Room will share a space right in the heart of Berry Hill, behind Baja Burrito and next to Sam & Zoe’s coffeehouse. It’s the neighborhood where our uber-talented friends Andrew Osenga, Mitch Dane, Shane Wilson, and a bunch of other great producers and musicians also work and play and eat burritos. It also happens to be about a five-minute drive from the Gullahorns, the Goodgames, the McKenzies, the Ramseys, and–well, you get the idea. It’s in a great spot. Ben will be making fine records in his part of the space and Pete will be in the other, working on things like Rabbit Room Store orders, the website, planning Hutchmoot 2011, and building Rabbit Room Press. (He’ll also probably write his next novel there.)

People have asked me what this will allow the Rabbit Room to do that it wasn’t already doing. It’s a good question, and I don’t really know the answer. It’ll be a much better place to fill orders. It’ll be a good place to meet and discuss the overtaking of the world with Rabbity goodness. This phase of the Rabbit Room’s growth won’t include retail sales, so you won’t be able to swing by just yet (though we encourage you to dine at Baja Burrito as often as you pass through town, since food will taste better in the vicinity of our lair).

The biggest thing for me is something I learned at Hutchmoot last year: there’s a big difference between existing online and existing in the real world. I don’t mean to overstate, but I think of it as a kind of incarnation. The thing takes on a new life. Years after this whole idea struck, I’m grateful to see it moving forward, building community, and shedding light.

Thank you, dear readers, listeners, and encouragers, for being a part of this story.

Sincerely,

The Proprietor

P.S. Shameless plea: If anyone lives in Nashville and has any cool furniture, we’re looking for some. You can see from the pictures that we don’t have much yet, besides the crate Pete’s sitting on. We humbly reserve the right to be picky, but if you have anything you’d like to donate (i.e., bookshelves, floor lamps, club chairs, love seat, coffee table, lava lamp, wooden desk, etc.), we’d be happy to take it off your hands. Shoot an email (and a picture of what you’ve got) to [email protected] and we’ll let you know if it meets our impeccable standards.

So will there be any hunting trophies of the great beasts you’ve slain on them there lair walls? I don’t imagine toothy cow heads are that easy to come by, but maybe a stuffed jackalope head? Or maybe a feechie that licks the stamps for Pete? I’ve read that feechies can be civilized given enough time. I’m just thinking out loud here so fell free to shoot these ideas down.

That looks like a great set up for the Rabbit Room. It is exciting to see how the Rabbit Room has grown and blessed so many of us.

And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, (and the Rabbit Room has a new lair), but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
I know His heart and spirit will be alive and moving within the walls of the new lair. (I do believe that good guys can have lairs)

May many stories be created, many goods distributed and much coffee drank.

Congrats on the place. My godmother lived in that neighborhood when I was little and I have fond memories of BIG Easter and Christmas celebrations there. Happiness and much creativity now and always. Praise God for such a blessing for you ALL.

What a bountiful blessing. I don’t think you guys have any idea how many people you touch and inspire every day with your Rabbitry goodness. I’m so glad for your good fortune, and therefore, ours. Peace.

This has the potential to become quite reminiscent of “The Inklings”. Here’s to the hope that it will honor the legacy of Jack, Tollers, Warnie, and the rest, and that in all things it gives glory to the One who gives us life. Cheerio!

Very cool! I wish we lived nearer the Nashville region so we could at least help decorate your walls with great art (of some sort or another…though probably the suggested hunting trophies of toothy cows would be best!).

I think you should hang one of those carved signs in front like you see on the front of pubs in the movies. I’ve long thought that a woodcut, folk-art-style rabbit would be a cool icon for RR tshirts and mugs. But a rabbit-shaped sign would be even better!

I think you should meet up there late one night and project massive shadow bunnies on one wall… you know, the kind you make with your fingers and a lamp. Trace around them, and then paint them in. Write your names on the hands, of course.

Ron, I was going to make a comment about the purgatory room, but I like you too much.

The idea comes to Gary Larson in various forms: “Vat isss zat noise?!!” Or “Maestro, this is your room.” Or “Charlie Parker’s Private Hell.” The difference between a banjo and a chainsaw is that a chainsaw has more dynamic range.

How lucky am I that I got to be in this pic… that I would fly into town when I did, eat lunch where I did, and get to be a part of this photo op? I keep coming back here to look at this pic and I feel graced every time to be in league with such fine folks.

Bobbleheads and Bumperstickers. Videos would be grand too. Keep on challenging me/us with Rabbit Room posts and I’ll be happy. I have lost count of the many meaty conversations my husband and I have had because of this place and the growth that’s took place in our walk.

If you guys ever open up to the public, and if the fam and I just happen to be driving through your warren of the woods (okay, it’s a ways from Missouri, but not that far), I’d love to stop by and pickup some rabbitty books and cds.

!! <– the official Rabbit Room emoticon. Do you see the rabbit peeking out from his lair?

I have an idea. I say skip the actual use of this lair and go straight to the museum phase, complete with velvet ropes and audio tours. It has already become hallowed Rabbit Room ground based upon a single blog post. Set it up like you would use it and then start charging admission. “You are now approaching the crate where Pete Peterson would have sat to write his great western epic had he ever done so. And in the next room is where a picture was once taken of the next room.” You would make a tremendous amount of money. It’s the American way.

I’m actually writing with a serious request for the new lair. If God puts this on any of your hearts, would you mind to please pray for our son?

He is a young teenager who has been exposed to the gospel since he was an infant. We are in ministry, and he has been on the front lines with us his whole life.

He’s a winsome kid. Popular at school. Good student. Intelligent, An out-of-the-box thinker.

Tonight we sat at the kitchen table and had a painful, honest conversation about his spiritual frustrations. He said that he’s been aching for God to engage in his life distinctly for years, but God just didn’t seem to be responding to him. He’s not the weepy type — but the overwhelming fear and angst in his heart was clearly visible in his whole countenance. He wants more of the Lord tangibly, and He isn’t sure how to get that.

He feels deeply disappointed with God. He feels like he’s sincerely sought him for years, but that God is still silent. He is desperate to feel a relationship instead of just having a “one way” conversation. (He asked Christ to live in his heart years ago.)

We discussed how stirrings like these can actually be a sign that God is pulling us deeper to Himself. And we encouraged him to continue to be honest about his doubts. We prayed, and talked about possible resources…

However, I feel desperate for the Lord to meet with our son, and to show him His love. I can’t begin to explain how hard it was to hear his pain tonight. If any of you have a moment to pray, I would be so grateful.

Someone…I feel an urge to respond, because the pain in your heart is so evident.

Your son is not alone. Many young people who have grown up in godly Christian homes will feel the kind of doubts that he is feeling. The heartbreaking truth is that some will go out into the world and never return to the fold. But the good news is that they can be drawn back if someone will meet them where they are with their questions and provide them with answers.

God has not left Himself without witness. We do not need to cross our fingers and *hope* that the Bible is true or that God really has revealed himself to us through His son. He has left behind a host of “breadcrumbs” that will lead us to Him if we follow them–through science, through history, and even within the Bible itself.

There is an excellent lecture that I cannot recommend highly enough for your son, and it can be found here:

This is a sermon that was given by a speaker named Tim McGrew at a church in New Orleans this year. The topic is undesigned coincidences within the Scriptures–how all four of the gospels work together to form a unified whole that could not possibly have been fabricated by a forger. They bear the marks of real history.

You said that your son is seeking God’s voice and presence in his life. Obviously you best know the kind of thing that will reach him. However, I believe that God speaks to us through His word, and the firmer an assurance your son can have that God’s word is true, the more clearly he will hear God’s voice in his life.

Know this someone, there is always Someone on your side. I love the tangible confession given to us by our own Andrew Peterson in his song “The Good Confession (I Believe)” A faith that lacks doubts is likely a faith that has never been tested. Your son like many teens is being tested.

As a fellow parent of teens I feel your pain. It is clear to me that if our advesary, the father of lies, when he cannot directly attack us, he goes after our children. That gets me quite angry.

I’ve added my prayers to F.T. and I’m sure many other foks here will do the same.

Thanks for sharing your heart. It is one of the sweetest things about this place. It’s safe to share here and be assured we’ve got your back!

Someone, your son is very blessed to have parents who listen to what is in his heart and do not condemn or ignore what they hear. I think you have done a marvelous job with your son, and I’m praying for him and for you.

When I was going through a time of struggle and doubt, a dear friend suggested that we memorize verses together. It did not seem like the type of thing that would really help at the time, and we didn’t memorize passages that related directly to what I was feeling. But somehow putting the Word into my mind did help. And spending a short lunch hour with my friend each week also helped. Maybe it would help your son.

Also, there’s a section on “searching” at the beginning of Tim Keller’s _Reason For God_ that he found encouraging. Have you read that book? I’d love to know what you think about it, if you have.

You guys have a hard job, growing up in 2011. I’ve seen several of your posts, and I can tell that you are also a thoughtful, bright, witty, sensitive teenager. So, I’ll pray for you as I pray for my son… that God would give you mentors and comrades to walk alongside the questions you have. That He would reveal Himself in delightful ways to your growing hearts. I can see so much beauty in you both — evidence of God’s working good things for wonderful ends.

That is an interesting interview. However, I think Philip himself may not even be fully aware of just how heavy the evidence in favor of Christianity is. It is truly extraordinary, to the point where I can confidently make the following statement:

A person may be any two of the following three things: reasonable, well-informed, or an atheist. But he CANNOT BE ALL THREE.

It’s interesting to me how epistemology settles into the fabric of different personality types. For years I was trained on a polemic, presuppositional model of apologetics. Proof-based tools were provided as the end-all to everyone’s faith questions, and I was trained to share my faith like a chess player.

But then I started running into people who were speaking a different language altogether. I ran into post-moderns who simply didn’t default to a reliance upon objective truth, and that was a game changer. Their whole schema for perceiving the world was so different! Just because something could be “proven” true logically or scientifically, that didn’t make it “valid” to them.

I won’t go into that whole story here. Too long and complicated. But I’m super interested to see how methods of evangelism based on post-Enlightenment reason will function in an irenic, relativistic cultural soup. Can a rationalistic approach effectively convince every soul, or are there times when a narrative/relational approach works better? It seems like the Bible uses both in different settings.

Theologically, I have obvious concerns about stepping away from the tried-and-true. However, if solid, core truth can be maintained while communicating creatively in the new language, that excites me…

FT, do you have any insights on this question? It’s something I’ve been wondering for a while…

If God’s desired method for reaching people rested only in a scientific, rationalistic proof system, why doesn’t the Bible function solely like that?

I do see rationalism used strategically in books like Romans, but God also includes narrative, emotive, artistic, and social manifestations of truth in other places of His word to demonstrate his gospel. It seems like God speaks many different languages to reach people.

BuckBuck, I agree with you. I think that Jesus approached people differently depending on who and where they were in life. The way he talked to the Samaritan woman was completely different from his conversation with Nicodemus, for instance. And Paul is another example of this: “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22) God is in the business of saving individuals. And each individual has a unique set of circumstances and a unique way of looking at the world. Which means that if we want to reach the most amount of people possible, we need to be communicating the gospel in different ways. The gospel remains the same, but the way we tell the good news changes.

Someone… The best book I ever read was called, “God Works the Nightshift” by Ron Mehl. I gave away my copy four times before I could finish it myself. It is all about how God is actively moving in our lives even when the darkness is overwhelming.

There is a story… I can’t tell it well enough… of a young child and father shortly after the death of the mother. The father pulls the child’s bed into his bedroom and upon his cries in the night, he reaches down and lifts the child into his own bed. The child cries a little longer and then says to his father, “It sure is dark in here.”

The Darkness is a powerful enemy and I’ve been overwhelmed by it many times. But when it becomes too much for me, God inclines himself to me… He comes down into the depths of where I am, knowing I do not have the strength to go to Him. He hears my cries and He offers compassion and pulls me out of the Darkness.

Here is what I would say: You are absolutely right that not everybody will respond to an approach based on evidence. You need to meet people where they are. Some people are just confused and need a hug. Some people want answers to things like the problem of evil. And sometimes, they don’t want to hear your arguments, because they just like to hear themselves talk. In some cases, it’s good just to let them talk. You don’t need to win an argument right away. You can wait, and then quietly drop in a comment that will make them think.

This is what we call “conversational apologetics.” It’s slow, but it guarantees that you won’t find yourself in an awkward situation. Another technique that can be useful is the technique of ASKING QUESTIONS. Instead of saying to the person “Here’s what I believe, and here’s why” right away, you listen to what he says and then say, “Could you tell me what led you to that belief?” Now invariably, as people try to answer your questions, they will run out of answers. This means that you haven’t committed yourself, but you’re putting him on the spot, since he’s the one making the claims.

Not all conversations will end well. You can try your hardest to carry on a calm conversation, and the other person will still become upset. In that case, it’s time to pull the plug. Something like, “Well, I’m sorry if I’ve upset you, and I think it might be best for us to continue this conversation another time.”

Those are some techniques that are very practical, and I hope they answer your question.

The reason I emphasize the evidential approach is that for the right kind of person, it fills a deep need. For example, many young people are looking for exactly the kind of answers the evidential approach will provide, answers to vital questions like, “How can I know the Bible is the real word of God? How can I know that Jesus really did rise from the dead?” It’s also the right approach for responding to atheists who trample upon the historicity of our faith and write exactly the kind of books that lead these young people astray. When you encounter an atheist like that, you respond to his arguments, methodically and thoughtfully.

It hasn’t been my experience that all post-moderns are clueless. I have certainly run into several minds that work the plane guy Ryan Dobson mocks in that video. However, I’ve learned not to approach all people who struggle with objective truth condescendingly.

From what I understand, the core of presuppositional apologetics requires a certain amount of faith before logical arguments can even begin to build. Most folks in the RR would be willing to accept those core presuppositions as givens. But our secular world isn’t.

Evidential apologetics attempts to start on common ground with the secularist, but consequentially it surfaces the same epistemological problems other secular philosophers have faced. “How do we know that we know anything for certain?” If you ever took a college philosophy course, you know how quickly all that turns absurd. Two weeks into the class, you suddenly realize that you can’t even prove that you burned your hand on the stove that morning.

At first, this realization frightened me. I was trained to “argue” for my faith, and I felt confident and secure because of what I could prove. There was an unspoken promise offered to me in apologetics training… a promise that if I exercised certain muscles well enough, that I could force anyone to believe. It was a dominant, proud feeling that I should have recognized as sin sooner. But it took coming to the limits of apologetics to humble me, and to realize how dependent I am on God instead of technique.

So, I’ve been learning to find it wonderful that God is bigger than even our best tools. He has certainly given us clues in science and reason, and in certain settings those methods are effective. But they do not replace His Spirit. And I need to be careful about making technique an idol, because sometimes I do that.

In my view, God seems to have made even human logic subservient to Him. That frightened me when I first began to consider it, but now it helps me trust Him as I walk into an anti-Enlightenment world. It casts my sword to the ground, and places me dependently in the arms of my King. I’m wandering around in Babel, but He knows all the languages.

In light of all this, I guess I have grown sort of wary of resources that teach Christians how to “zing” nonbelievers with our awesome aren’t-we-smart arguments. Maybe those work in some settings, but I just don’t like what they stir up in my heart. I don’t want to be Rush Limbaugh on team Jesus any more. I don’t want people admiring me because I’ve “won” the debate.

I want to explore Scripture’s diversity of languages. How does God want us to become all things to all men without compromising truth? I think that’s absolutely thrilling…

Well, I don’t know if I would look at using evidential arguments as a way of proving our cleverness to the world. I view it as the process of putting together a jigsaw puzzle, using pieces God has given us. The point is not to unload “what we got” on unsuspecting victims so that we can sit back and cackle. The point is to quietly lead them out of THEIR presuppositions and show them that Christian faith is much more reasonable than they might give it credit for.

No, we can’t write out a deductive proof that God exists, just like we can’t write out a deductive proof that we have hands. But if we view ourselves as detectives searching for God’s fingerprints (corny analogy, but you get the idea), we will find that He has left them everywhere!

And I think that’s important, because when you get these guys like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchins who come in all high and mighty and bamboozle people…those people are left with a faith genuinely shaken. And God would not want us to leave those people in the dark when it comes to showing them how He has revealed himself to us.

Becca: “I’m wandering around in Babel, but He knows all the languages.” That’s the fact.

In talking to people it’s important to realize that I don’t have to save a single person. It isn’t my job. I am not Joe Super-Christian arguing people into the Kingdom. I am not in the salvation business; God is. Now, he’ll use me, but only if I have an attitude of dependence and trust. Self-willed witnessing, as if taking down enemy planes, doesn’t really accomplish anything lasting.

I have had conversations with people who were not Christians where I talked about evidence. But more effective have been conversations where I heard about the person’s life, asked them questions, and then gave insights. It is more like passing a basketball to the next God-person they’ll run into than trying to score the goal myself. It’s more like loving the person where they are. I don’t care for the buzz words like “I was ministering” and “I was witnessing” because they imply some activity we do other than loving people with Christ’s love and having good things spring out of that.

I’m not putting down the need to study; Bible study and apologetics are important. But I am ever wary of “10 Steps to Improving Your Christian Witnessing.” Although technique is important, I’ll take someone with heart over someone with technique. An old Kentucky grandmother who loves and trusts the Lord can do more than a great theologian who doesn’t.

FT, loved this paragraph: “…when you get these guys like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchins who come in all high and mighty and bamboozle people…those people are left with a faith genuinely shaken. And God would not want us to leave those people in the dark when it comes to showing them how He has revealed himself to us.”

Now being serious, of not being sure of what God wants me to do for Him, people have encouraged me to find my talents and passions, like playing my musical intruments and painting, and use them for the glory of God.
Someone, help your son find those talents and passions so that he can learn to use them to the best of his advantige.

With the lair, has there been any thought toward a writer’s group? I attend some fiction writer’s groups here in Nashville and they’re great for critique (everyone brings something to read), but I’d enjoy the deeper discussion that would naturally occur among Rabbit Roomers. Any plans along those lines?

“It’s more like loving the person where they are… I’ll take someone with heart over someone with technique. An old Kentucky grandmother who loves and trusts the Lord can do more than a great theologian who doesn’t.”

Thank you, Ron. That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’m not very good with saying the right thing at the right time. I’m lucky if I say it in a way that someone else actually understands! Usually, I get blank stares.

But people respond to love. They respond to words spoken in truth, in kindness, in sincerity. I don’t have any fancy techniques, I just try to be kind, to listen, to smile as I walk by… And I believe it works. The most important thing… above all else… is to love. Honestly, in sincerity and in truth.

By the way… I can’t tell you how much I’d love to be able to plop down in an overstuffed chair and just listen to y’all toss ideas around in that there office. I pray that God will bless you and your endeavors and that He will lead you down paths you could not imagine. And may He use you to bless us, too. Thank you.